Hawaii firearm registrations drop by 24 percent last year
HONOLULU — The number of firearms registered in Hawaii decreased by nearly 24 percent last year, according to figures from the state attorney general’s office.
The figures show that registrations dropped to 40,635 in 2017 from 53,400 in 2016.
In 2017, 16,443 personal or private firearm applications were processed, decreasing by 23.2 percent from the 21,408 applications processed the year before.
Of the registration applications, 96 percent were approved last year, according to the state data. The data shows that 1.7 percent were denied due to the applicants being disqualified, and the remaining 2.2 percent were rejected for applicants’ failure to return permits.
Despite the sharp decrease last year, the number of registrations is still much higher than the numbers recorded nearly two decades ago, said Paul Perrone, a research chief for the attorney general’s office. The state registered 13,617 firearms in 2000. Firearm registrations peaked at 60,757 in 2013 with a notable rise beginning in 2008.
“There’s a direct relationship between a concern of scarcity and people buying more than they would have if scarcity was not an issue,” Hawaii Rifle Association President Harvey Gerwig said.
During President Barack Obama’s second term in office, firearm sales and registration boomed. Gerwig said people were concerned about the possibility of additional restrictions being placed on firearms during the last administration.
With Donald Trump in office, Gerwig said people are not buying guns at the same rate.
Jury acquits Maui man in sex assault, kidnapping case
WAILUKU, Maui — A Hawaii jury has acquitted a Maui man who was charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman.
The jury found Binh Le, 44, not guilty of kidnapping and multiple counts of sexual assault after deliberating for less than an hour Tuesday.
“We are happy and grateful that the jurors took their jobs seriously and saw this case for what it was,” Deputy Public Defender Ben Lowenthal said. “Mr. Le is grateful and happy to be out of jail and can begin his life again.”
A 19-year-old woman had told police that she was walking down a road in Kihei in June 2016 when Le stopped his car and pulled her inside.
Le then stopped at a gas station, but the woman was afraid to leave the car, she told the court on the first day of the four-day trial. She was then taken to a house and assaulted before police arrived, she said.
Lowenthal told the court that the woman was an “unreliable witness,” noting that the evidence did not indicate a kidnapping. The woman was left alone in the car at the gas station and had opportunity to flee, he said.
“What she has given you is a far-fetched and preposterous story,” Lowenthal told the jurors. “She is completely discredited by other witnesses, by police officers.”
The verdict was not what prosecutors wanted, deputy prosecuting attorney Jeffery Temas said, but bringing the case forward allowed “the community opportunity to consider the evidence and bring closure for the parties involved.”
